Sap on tap

After a disappointing sap season in 2007, area sugar makers have been encouraged by what, so far, has been an excellent spring for making maple syrup. The conditions have been ideal, with warm days and cold nights that force the sugary sap up through the maple trees — and out through the metal "taps" in their trunks.

The sap is collected into large metal buckets with triangular tops that are meant to keep leaves, dirt and other debris from falling into the clear sugar water. It is then boiled down (for hours and hours) until 40 gallons of clear sap have turned into one gallon of amber-colored syrup.

It’s a labor-intensive process and truly a labor of love. Even though fresh local syrup can cost as much as $40 a gallon, the sugarmakers are definitely not doing it for the money. In fact, two of the largest "businesses" that made syrup in the Northwest Corner have recently stopped. Both the Great Mountain Forest in Norfolk and Falls Village and Camp Sloane YMCA in Lakeville say they no longer have enough manpower to go out and tap all their trees and collect and boil down the sap.

Fans of pure syrup (as opposed to the corn syrup and caramel coloring product sold at most grocery stores) need not worry that the maple syrup "industry" will die out. State syrup experts say that even as some people stop making syrup, others are starting up.

"Lots of new families start all the time," said Avis Norman, of Norman’s Sugarhouse in Woodstock, Conn. She is an active member of the Connecticut Maple Syrup Producers Association. "It’s a family-type project, something you can do with your kids."

Maple sugaring does seem to be an activity that revolves around families and children. Geoffrey Marchant, who has children of his own, got started making syrup on the campus of The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville with the help of one of his students. A freshman at the independent boarding school was having a hard time adjusting to life away from home. Marchant asked him what he liked to do. The boy responded, "Nothing. Well, I like sugaring."

So he had the boy show him how to do it, and has been making syrup ever since. He taps trees all around the Hotchkiss campus, and boils them down in a small sugar shack on his property on Route 112. His wife, Kathy, helps him as do neighborhood youngsters such as Nick Burchfield.

Marchant’s sapping experience this season has been slightly different from that of other area sugarmakers. He said the sap was flowing vigorously for about two days last week but then it stopped.

Jayne Ridgway in Cornwall, however, was still busy collecting and boiling sap on Wednesday morning this week.

"We had quite a run over the weekend," she said. "We made more in four days than we did all of last year. Last year was one of the worst years we’ve had since we started sugaring in 1985. We only made 50 gallons. In our best year, we made 175 gallons. This year... who knows. But my buckets are overflowing."

Nationwide, Connecticut ranks number 11 in maple syrup production. It is made mostly by families and individuals who not only like the product but also cherish the sense of tradition that surrounds the collecting and creation of the syrup.

"Maple syrup certainly is not a dying business, but it is a niche one," said Ron Nelson, a marketing representative for Connecticut sugarmakers. "It’s mainly a part-time business for most producers and they do it because they like to and the added income is an extra to most of them. The majority of producers in Connecticut make between 5 and 50 gallons of syrup."

On average, Connecticut produces 12,747 gallons of syrup (though of course that total can change dramatically depending on the weather). Vermont, which is the No. 1 syrup producer in the nation, makes an average of 560,200 gallons of syrup, according to information provided by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.

The quality of syrup produced in this state is especially fine, however. Twice in the past three years, according to the agriculture department, syrup made in this state has been named Best Maple Syrup in the World at Maple-Rama, an annual event held in Vermont. The North American Maple Syrup Council in New York has also given awards for Best Syrup to Connecticut syrup in recent years.

So, where is this nectar available? Sometimes you just have to call up a sugar maker and see if they have any they want to sell. The Ridgway syrup will be for sale at LaBonne’s Market in Salisbury in a week or so (or whenever the Ridgways get a break from making syrup and can drive it over to the store). To buy Marchant’s syrup, call him at The Hotchkiss School (860-435-2591) and leave a message.

And of course, this weekend is MapleFest at the Audubon Center in Sharon. Volunteers will give tours of tapped trees in the woods along easily accessible trails, and will demonstrate how the sap is boiled into syrup. Bottles of the finished product are sold in the store. The festival is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

For more information, call 860-364-0520.